Qualcomm gains bode well

TI slips on downgrade, but most techs edge up

EmilyChurch

LONDON (CBS.MW) - A few of the more liquid U.S. stocks were marked higher in speculative pre-open trading, as gains in Qualcomm provided a much-needed lift to investor sentiment.

S&P and Nasdaq 100 futures were markedly higher after the resumption of trading, suggesting an end to the stock market's current losing streak, at least at the open.

Earlier, futures trading had been interrupted from 6:15 a.m. ET to 8:00 a.m. due to a power outage.

Sentiment in the tech sector received a boost from Qualcomm
QCOM, -3.71%
late Thursday; the CDMA company raised its chipset guidance for the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year.

Despite a more favorable forecast, Qualcomm did not increase sales or earnings per-share targets. See more

The stock was rallying $1.83, or 7.1 percent, to $27.55 in the pre-open.

All was not rosy in chip land, however, as Texas Instruments
TXN, -1.92%
dipped 53 cents, or 3.1 percent, at $16.50 over the Redibook ECN. Analyst Jonathan Joseph at Salomon Smith Barney downgraded the stock to "in-line" from "outperform," due to slowing unit growth and continued weak PC demand.

Elsewhere, IBM
IBM, -1.82%
was up 62 cents at $65.42, holding onto the Qualcomm-related booster overnight. On Thursday, the stock hit an intraday low of $64.65, the lowest level seen since October 1998.

Among other early movers, General Electric
GE, -1.68%
was marked 27 cents higher at $26.82, Cisco
CSCO, -1.64%
added a dime to $12.10 and Microsoft
MSFT, -1.81%
gained 20 cents to $47.40.

In London, Just after the end of the expiry period, the FTSE 100 (1805550)was 2.4 percent stronger at 3,906.2, having earlier sunk below its six-year closing low of 3,777, recorded on July 24, and then hitting a high of 4,064.1. See more UK action

European tech and telecom-related stocks were heading higher, lending some support to the U.S.

French telecommuications equipment maker Alcatel
ALA, -1.49%
said it sees sales in the second half down 10 percent from the first half of the year, and third quarter sales dropping 15 percent from the second. The warning is largely in line with rivals Nortel
NT
which was up 2 cents at 85 cents, and Lucent Technologies
LU
which edged up a nickel to $1.10.

Shares were suspended limit up twice in Paris as investors appeared to welcome an extension to its massive job-cutting plan. Others attributed short covering to the rally in Alcatel. Shares (013000) were last up 11.2 percent in Paris. Shares of European rivals Ericsson
ERICY
and Siemens
SI
were higher.

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